Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-03-04

lBosion Hsrald-I
when Mr.. George ". Smalley return
q lass s1mmeE, sitter Ten years absence.
70 his native land, be noted many
changes IL New YORK. and suonR tie
psorse 81 large. buf nozhinR struck him
more forcihly khsn the increased o1nh-
denes In The Americas idss. He YES
hfmaaIf fun Of she thoaaht Of Differences
20 foreign opinions which was greatly
the rule whan be vas amauR o. a. an
active cifizsn. but be f0uud thas pubfis
sentimsnt bers had changed. and that
cur people Of every gEade and rank are
gate Indifferent 20 what may be thoaeht
about them 10 Great Britain OF IN any
part o. Europs- He expIains she
change. IN ais Ninstssnth Cent1Fy
article, thus: The American looks
ab01t him and see what be himself has
done and what hts county has become.
and be hears from every EaropsaE and
reads 10 everF European journal that
the United States mast Be recksnsd
en1 ne the great powers 81 the world.
This last acknowledgment be accepts
once for ali. azd be says te himself that
heBcef0rward what concerns him Is
American iadQment npon things Amer
lean, and thst only. He has no need to
appeal 10 = foreign tribunal" This is q
correct analysis Of ths state Of feeling
among ourselves, and Il IL this esnfdence
IN our material aad intellectual resoar-
ces which Mr.. Arnsla, reviewing Gen.
Grants Memoirs" calls the American
beastfulness, To q refined intelligence
there Il no doab1 that the attitude of
the American toward the cpiai0ns Of the
old world 10 not sufficiently deferential,
and Mr.. Arnold greatly mistakes as II be
thinks that this self condolences Is mere
insularity and Brovincislism- Il Is
nothing Of the kind. Il 10 simply the
growth Of the American people into q
national manhood or self-sonsciousness
This Is what delighted % acute an OBJ
server as Mr.. 6mallsy, who has never
lost bis American feeling IN bis residence
abroad. he foand the Americ4n less
oonceited than ever, and vet more free
than ever from q dependence upon
European sentiment to sustain bis opin-
ions. The American idea Is supreme
today, and it ID this supremacy Of the
national consciousness which 10 at the
root Of much that IL best In our politi-
cal and intellectual life. Oar relations
With England must always be Close and
intimate. The two peoples have too
much 10 common for this to be other
wise. Bat eur servility 10 foreign opin-
ion in matters Of thought or economic
policy, or In the rules that govern any of
the great activities Of life, is al an end.
Ths American idea rules America.
There Is no escape from this. and its
natural increase will still further modi-
fy and uplift American life. II 10 only
since the civil var that the dependence
upon Eurspean sentiment has been
greatly diminished. The strengthening
Of the idea Of American nationality has
bsen the increasing Of our respect for
the good things which the Nation has
incorporated into its universal life. The
increasing feeling Of self-dependenes Ia
At the root Of much that IL most prom
ising In the various directions in which
the refined life Of the people finds ex
preston. Is lie also felt in the handling
Of our political issues. II takes the lead
in the treatment Of social questions.
The feeling Is that We hsve received all
the schoolmastering from the cid world
which is required. and that our work
here is 10 pot forth our own resources
mere effectively than ever before.